The global COVID-19 pandemic struck the U.S. state of Wisconsin in early February 2020. Although Wisconsin has to date experienced 144 deaths per 100,000 residents, significantly fewer than the US national average of 196 deaths, COVID-19 was one of the three leading causes of death in Wisconsin in 2020. On August 25, 2021, Wisconsin public health authorities reported 7 day averages of 1,417 new cases and 236 probable cases per day, an increase of greater than 15 fold since late June 2021. This brings the cumulative total of COVID-19 cases in Wisconsin to 651,338. The state's death toll is 7,558, with 30 new deaths over the previous 7 days. As of August 25, 2021, 12.41% of Wisconsin's residents have been positively diagnosed with COVID-19, the 20th highest per-capita case rate among all US states. January 16's 128 COVID-19 deaths set a new single day record for Wisconsin.
A steady upward trend of new COVID-19 cases in late June/early July accelerated in mid-July, with several new single day records reported in late July. In response to July's rising case and death tolls, Governor Tony Evers issued a face mask mandate for all citizens over age 5 while in any building that is not a private home. A lawsuit challenging the mandate was filed by the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty on August 25. According to a poll of registered voters conducted by Marquette University, the majority of registered voters support the mandate. Columnist Michael Tomasky argues that insisting on the right to infect someone else with a deadly disease is not a conservative principle and is in fact the opposite of freedom for the victim. "Freedom emphatically does not include the freedom to get someone else sick."
As of August 25, 2021, Wisconsin has administered 6,038,886 COVID-19 vaccine doses. 54.1% of Wisconsin residents have received one dose and 50.9% have completed the vaccine series.
Timeline
February 2020
On February 5, 2020, the first COVID-19 case was reported in Wisconsin – a person who had recently traveled to Beijing and was exposed to a COVID-19 patient there.
March 2020
On March 10, the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee announced that classes would begin to be moved online after an employee in the school's foundation office was tested for COVID-19. On March 11, the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay announced that classes will be moved to "alternative delivery methods" going into effect immediately after spring break on March 23. The University of Wisconsin–Madison announced a suspension of all in-person classes beginning March 23.
On March 13, Governor Tony Evers ordered all schools (public and private) in the state to close by March 18, with no possibility of reopening until April 6 at the earliest.
On March 17, community transmission, also known as community spread, was announced in Dane County.
On March 27, Governor Evers declared a moratorium for 60 days on evictions and foreclosures.
April 2020
On April 24, thousands of anti-lockdown protesters gathered at the state capitol in Madison, the same day the state health department announced 304 new cases - the most new cases since the pandemic began.
May 2020
On May 8, the Wisconsin DHS announced that 72 individuals who tested positive for COVID-19 recently attended "a large event."
June 2020
On June 20, The Juneau County Department of Health announced that an outbreak occurred at a gentlemen's club in Wisconsin Dells with an unknown number of infected people visiting the club between June 10 and 14.
From June 13 to 26, Dane County had an uptick of new cases with 614 people testing positive for COVID-19. Roughly half of these cases were between the ages of 18 and 25 and almost half of these cases had reported attending a gathering or party with people outside of their household. By the end of the month, Dane County had experienced multiple record-setting days of the highest totals of new cases per day in the county, and the trend continued of most new cases being younger people.
By mid-way through 2020, Wisconsin had experienced 786 deaths and is expected to have the disease to be a new leading cause of death in the state according to associate professor of population sciences at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. During the last week of June, Wisconsin experienced an upward trend in cases, but not a spike as seen in other states.
July 2020
A steady upward trend of new COVID-19 cases in late June/early July accelerated in mid July, with several new single day records reported in late July. In response to July's rising case and death tolls, Governor Tony Evers issued a face mask mandate for all citizens over age 5 while in any enclosed space that is not a private home.
August 2020
On August 5, 16 cases were confirmed at the Wisconsin Veterans Home at Union Grove.
On August 11, the Pierce County Health Department announced 23 cases among residents and staff at an assisted living facility, and three deaths.
On August 13, a Seneca Foods plant in Cumberland was linked to an outbreak in Barron County, which had 315 positive cases. About 44% of the workers at the plant tested positive.
On August 26, at least two people who tested positive reported attending the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, among other possible exposures.
On August 31, the New Lisbon Correctional Institution in Juneau County had more than 40 positive cases.
September 2020
On September 9, after two days of a test positivity rate over 20%, the University of Wisconsin-- Madison announced it would pause in-person instruction for two weeks. Two large residence halls were quarantined.
The August 7–16 Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota may have contributed to the surge of cases in early September; San Diego State epidemiologists estimated that the rally may have been a super spreader event, resulting in 266,000 new COVID-19 cases in the US, including some in Wisconsin.
Cases continued to increase with a 150% spike in cases near the end of September. Many school districts started the school year with virtual classes. Kenosha gave students a choice between full-time classroom or full-time remote instruction after parents demanded an in-person option. At least five students or staff members tested positive since the first day of classes on September 14.
October 2020
By October 6, Wisconsin was third nationwide for number of new cases capita. The seven-day moving average of new COVID-19 cases in Wisconsin on October 10 was 2,395; the average rate of new cases nearly tripling over the past month.
On 14 October 2020, Wisconsin opened a new field hospital at the state fairgrounds near Milwaukee.
The state reported 3,132 new cases on October 9 as cases and hospitalizations in the state continued to rise. Wisconsin's daily cases first exceeded 1,000 on July 21, and had reached 2,000 daily cases on September 17. The governor's office announced a statewide order to limit indoor mass gatherings that went into effect on October 8, prompting a lawsuit to strike down the new mask mandate and restrictions. According to the governor's office the May ruling from the state supreme court that stopped stay-at-home orders from going into effect in the early months of the pandemic did not impact the Department of Health Services authority under existing statutes to impose restrictions on mass gatherings.
New daily cases rose nearly everyday from early September, reaching record highs by mid-October. There were 34 deaths in the state on October 13, and 3,279 new cases, 959 new hospitalizations and 243 in intensive care. The metropolitan areas of Oshkosh-Neenah, Appleton and Green Bay had some of the highest rates nationwide.
November 2020
In November, five private schools and some families petitioned the Wisconsin Supreme Court asking that the Racine Unified School District be prevented from requiring all students to do online learning as opposed to in person instruction. The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty filed the petition on behalf of the schools and families. The Wisconsin Supreme Court granted an injunction in favor of the schools and families pending a review of a similar case in Dane County. Meanwhile, COVID-19 cases surged across Wisconsin, averaging 5,395 new cases and 43 deaths per day during the month of November. A single day record of 7,989 new cases was set on November 18.
December 2020
Despite social distancing and other efforts to mitigate spread of the COVID-19 disease, eight nuns from the School Sisters of Notre Dame died within a week of each other, including four on the same day, after there was a positive infection confirmed on Thanksgiving Day by one of the residents of their retirement home, which houses approximately one hundred residents. The retirement home is located in Elm Grove, Wisconsin.
Across the state, new single day records for COVID-19 deaths in Wisconsin were set on December 1 (107 deaths) and December 22 (120 deaths). An average of 3,677 new COVID-19 cases were reported per day during the first two weeks of December.
In late December, a pharmacist with Aurora Health Care allegedly deliberately allowed 57 vials (570 doses) of a Moderna COVID-19 vaccine to spoil by leaving them out of refrigeration for two nights. After an internal investigation into the matter, police arrested the pharmacist in question. According to the police, the value of the wasted vaccine cost between $8,000 and $11,000.
Government responses
Schools
On March 10, the Osceola School District closed schools to sanitize the buildings and buses after a person who attended a regional sports tournament was found to be infected. On March 12, Governor Tony Evers declared a State of Emergency. The next day, he ordered the closure of all public and private K-12 schools in the state until at least April 5.
Most schools in the University of Wisconsin System, including Madison and Stout, have cancelled all in-person classes through early April.
Mass gatherings
On March 16, Evers announced restrictions on the number of people that could be present at childcare facilities, limiting it to 10 staff and 50 children at the same time.
On March 17, a statewide ban of all gatherings with more than 10 people was announced by the governor.
In mid-June, Racine County judge Jon Fredrickson issued a temporary injunction against the city of Racine's "Forward Racine" order. The order limited certain businesses such as gyms, restaurants, and bowling alleys to a capacity of 25% or a maximum of ten persons. The plaintiff, David Yandell, claimed that the order jeopardized his business's ability to survive.
On July 2, following a sustained high number of new cases, Dane County issued order #7 limiting outdoor gatherings to 25 people, indoor gatherings to 10 people, and indoor dining capacity to 25% for restaurants, as well as prohibiting indoor dining in bars, a space of particular concern to health officials.
In May 2021, the city of Milwaukee announced lifting restrictions effective June 15, 2021. Capacity limits were lifted for the Milwaukee Bucks, Milwaukee Brewers, festivals, and businesses. At the time of the announcement, the city experienced a rate of infection for the disease at 82 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people and a test positivity rate is 4 percent, with about 29.5 percent of the population fully vaccinated. About two weeks later, the Milwaukee Bucks announced returning to full capacity for the remainder of the NBA playoffs. After the Bucks won the NBA championship on July 20, the city of Milwaukee experienced a surge in COVID-19 infections of nearly 500 persons which was a 155 percent rise in the infection rate following the celebration of the championship. The infection rate increase was attributed to possibly a result of the championship parade held for the team and the fact that about 65,000 people gathered in the Deer District (the area surrounding the arena where the Bucks play) during the championship game.
Stay at home
On March 23, Evers announced closures of all non-essential businesses to be signed on Tuesday, March 24, and urged citizens to stay at home to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
On April 16, the 'Safer At Home' order was extended to be in effect until May 26.
On April 17, Racine County Sheriff Christopher Schmaling said he planned not to enforce the 'Safer At Home' order, stating constitutional rights of citizens as his reasoning. His declaration is similar to concerns raised by four sheriffs in the state of Michigan.
On April 21, the Wisconsin state legislature filed suit with the state supreme court, against the governor's 'Safer At Home' order calling the executive order an overreach of the executive branch's statutory powers.
On April 24, Hartford Mayor Tim Michalak announced that businesses would be allowed to re-open on Monday April 27, despite the 'Safer-At-Home' order issued by Governor Evers. He directed the police department not to enforce the 'Safer-At-Home' order.
On May 13, the Wisconsin Supreme Court struck down Governor Evers "Safer-At-Home" orders as unconstitutional. On May 14 Mike Wiza, mayor of Stevens Point said they had still not received any guidance from the legislature, which made it "very, very difficult" for local law enforcement and the health department. The Governor announced on May 18 that the legislature didn't want any state level guidelines. In the absence of a statewide legislative order, the decision left the task of imposing health restrictions to the local governments. Dane County reissued the 'Safer-At-Home' orders nearly in full, and in Milwaukee County restrictions were put in place, including a mask mandate.
One week after the Supreme Court decision Wisconsin reported 528 new COVID-19 cases, the largest single day rise in new COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic.